


Remember Me (though I have to say goodbye)

by poorwayfairingstranger



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Canon Divergence, Dream SMP Spoilers, Dream Smp, Hurt/No Comfort, Major character death - Freeform, The Festival, no romantic relationships, no ships, wilbur blows up l’manberg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 21:02:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27202888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poorwayfairingstranger/pseuds/poorwayfairingstranger
Summary: Tubbo died in a box. There was nothing Tommy could do to stop it.-ORWilbur detonates the TNT during the festival, not knowing Tubbo was stuck in the box.
Comments: 9
Kudos: 183





	Remember Me (though I have to say goodbye)

**Author's Note:**

> hi :)) first dream smp fanfic!! ofc i had to his yall with the hurt/no comfort. 
> 
> heavily inspired by the song ‘rue’s farewell’ from the hunger games soundtrack. 
> 
> thanks to the discord for helping me with this :) ily all
> 
> enjoy! <3

Wilbur and Tommy stood at the edge of the roof, observing the festival. It was set up quite nicely, the stage was decorated and there were colorful little booths. Wilbur looked over at Tommy, giving him a curt nod to signal him that it was time. Tubbo peaked over his shoulder as they were watching the fight, the only one who could tell the pair were there. Wilbur gave them that same nod, telling them it was time. 

“Guys let’s make this the last fight, ‘cause then I have to do my speech.” Tubbo suggested, looking proudly at Schlatt, who just gave a knowing nod. 

The group of citizens continued to watch the fight as Schlatt defeated Fundy. He suggested they go start the speeches, and everyone took their places in the audience or on the stage. 

Schlatt joked around with Tubbo as he messed with the microphone, struggling to turn it to the correct setting. 

“You know, I do like to make fun of Tubbo for all the shit he does wrong,” Quackity and Schlatt looked over at Tubbo, “I mean he fucks up a lot-”

“Thank you, Schlatt.” Tubbo laughed awkwardly, trying to compose himself enough to begin his speech. Schlatt continued on.

“But I mean at the end of the day, he’s the guy who made all of this happen. I- I don’t know if we’d be where we are today without him. I really do consider you my right hand man.” Schlatt sounded genuine, and Tubbo let himself hope that Schlatt really did admire him, “And you know, when you said ‘Schlatt I really want to say my piece about how great this country is and how great you are’- I mean who am I to say no to that?” He paused, moving away from the microphone stand, “So without any further ado, I think I’ll put Tubbo, my right hand man, my protege, onto the mic.”

The crowd cheered and Tubbo made his way up to the stand, smiling proudly. Tommy looked over to Wilbur, who was taking deep breaths and bouncing on his heels slightly. He did this when he was nervous, Tommy had noticed. They had both picked up the small tics of the other person. It was grounding in a way. 

Tommy felt like he had lost so much of the Wilbur he once knew, the Wilbur who led them bravely through the war and acted as a father figure to them. Now it was only a bloodthirsty man wanting revenge. But this small fidget reminded him that it was still Wilbur, the Wilbur he knew. He wasn’t completely lost yet. 

Tubbo was speaking; they both turned to look at him through a broken part of the building.

“A wise man once told me that L’Manberg was like a lettuce. There’s so many layers of tasty and healthy goodness, and once you wash up all the caterpillars and worms off the surface, it’s a pretty god damn good meal!” The audience clapped, and Tubbo glanced up at where Tommy and Wilbur were peaking through the building. “Schlatt has successfully washed all of the insects off our great nation, and with that he’s allowed the goodness and tastiness to shine through.” 

Tommy knew Tubbo was just saying this to feign patriotism, but the words still hurt. He sighed, trying to brush them off. 

“Ladies and gentlemen, I’d like you to look around,” Tubbo continued, “at what we’ve built today. Look at each other, all of this thanks to democracy and leadership of Schlatt,” The audience cheered again, “And isn’t that what this festival is all about? Democracy! Our people have been beaten down by royals and by dictators for so long, now we are finally free. Free to elect who we want, free to live how we want, and most importantly, free to go wherever we want without the confines of those huge black walls.”

Wilbur froze, ceasing all movement. His face turned to stone, mouth set in a thin straight line and brow furrowed slightly. Tommy took a slight step back. He knew Tubbo’s words hurt Wilbur, they hurt him too. He put his hand on Wilbur’s shoulder, a silent offering, but Wilbur only shrugged it off. It was nearing the end of the speech, so Wilbur walked off, not giving a second look at Tommy. His intentions were set. He broke off into a run towards the hill, where the detonator button lay.

“With that in mind, I’d like to thank everyone for coming to this wonderful event!” Tubbo was interrupted by Schlatt’s menacing laugh. “Is everything alright, Schlatt?”

“No, it’s just…” He sighed. “I was just thinking about it, Tubbo, we like to have fun. You got anything else in the speech?”

This was his time. As Wilbur climbed the hill, he heard his codewords.

“Let the festival begin!” 

It’s all Wilbur could hear, his mind now set on finding the tnt room. 

Schlatt looked over to Tubbo.

“You’re done with the speech?” He watched as Tubbo nodded, then laughed again. It sent shivers up Tubbo’s spine; something was wrong.

Suddenly Quackity and Schlatt were putting concrete around Schlatt’s throne, the one he was sitting on. He was trapped, no way of escaping. Tubbo laughed confusingly, trying to look to Tommy’s hiding place for comfort. But Tommy wasn’t there, he couldn’t see him. And neither was Wilbur. 

People were talking, but it was nothing but white noise in his ears. He panicked, trying to beg Schlatt to let him out. All he could hear was Niki, sounding obviously distressed. Tubbo tried to get out, moving around the concrete box, but Schlatt began speaking.

“Tubbo, I’ll cut to the fucking chase, alright. Tubbo- I, it really sucks for me to say this in front of everybody here but Tubbo,”

“Yes…?” He replied timidly, faintly hearing Niki begging to let him out, but there was nothing he could do.

“I know what you’ve been up to.”

The words echoed in his ears, seeming to spread across his entire body as they sank in. He tried to feign innocence.

“What have I been up to- what- what what are you talking about?”

Schlatt mocked him. “‘What have I been up to?’ he says,” clumps of the crowd laughed along with him, but others stayed silent. Niki was crying. “Conspiring! Conspiring with the idiots, with the tyrants that we kicked out of this great country.”

Tubbo started breathing unevenly, growing progressively more panicked. He checked again, Tommy was nowhere in sight. Tubbo hoped he was coming to the rescue. 

“Tubbo, I don’t know if you know this, but treason isn’t exactly a respectable thing around here. I know what you’ve been doing, it all adds up, buddy! The fucking tunnels, your abscence from great events- I mean, you walked off in the middle of this one!” Schlatt turned to Tubbo, towering over the shaking boy trapped in the box. “Don’t tell me you’ve done nothing wrong, because everybody knows it.” 

Tubbo looked over at the crowd. Everyone sat silently. His friends, the people he built the city alongside, all watched in anticipation. Niki was the only one who was looking away. She looked down into her lap, wiping silent tears away. She didn’t trust herself to look at Tubbo’s position and not fall into a fit of hysterics. 

Schlatt’s voice fell. “Do you know what happens to traitors, Tubbo?”

Tubbo shook, pushing himself back into the box once more, using it to protect him, though it did nothing much to help. “No…” He trailed off, trying not to believe what was being implied here.

“Nothing good.”

Niki’s crying got louder. She knew what was going to happen, and she knew she had no way to stop it.

The crowd went silent, and you could hear a pin drop. 

“Hey Technoblade, you want to join us up here for a second?” Schlatt called to Techno, and all eyes moved to him. He nervously shifted in his seat, wondering what to do. Eventually he made his way up to the stage, standing anxiously next to Quackity. “Now that we’ve got Tubbo in this box…” 

Techno moved to stand in front of Tubbo, and he took the chance to glance once again over to where his friends were supposed to be. There stood Tommy, alone. It was worrying that Wilbur wasn’t there, but a sense of hopefulness flooded him as he shifted around the concrete walls. Tubbo shook his head at Tommy, pleading for help with his eyes. He was scared, he was so scared. 

“Tubbo,” Schlatt started again, “As an enemy of the state and as a perpetrator to these awful, awful people… Technoblade please, if you would be so kind, take care of him. We’re running on a tight schedule here-”

“What- what do you want out of me, Mr. President?” Techno asked nervously, shifting on his feet slightly.

Schlatt sighed, slightly letting down his character and letting his face darken before snapping back into it. “Listen, I only call you in for...special favors… I need you to take him out.” 

The crowd erupted. Confused protests covered up by Schlatt’s screams. Niki cried and Techno tried to back away from Schlatt, only to be met with the steep ending of the stage. 

“I want you to kill him, right now, on this fucking stage!” Schlatt looked to him before adding, “And make it hurt!”

Tubbo tried to escape, tried to do anything, but the concrete walls and Schlatt’s death stare kept him in place. 

Fundy’s voice rose from the crowd., “Come on, Schlatt… it’s a festival…” He offered weakly, once again covered up by the rest of the group. Niki was screaming, trying to get Schlatt to let Tubbo out, begging Techno to not do anything.

“Shut up, all of you! My right hand man betrayed me! I’d rather rule alone than with you.” Schlatt growled. 

Noise erupted again as Quackity tried to negotiate with Schlatt to let Tubbo out. “He’s already jailed, isn’t that enough?” He asked frantically. Techno was once again shifting on his feet, and the crowd was yelling incoherently. 

Technoblade raised his weapon. Tubbo pushed himself further away, afraid of the men surrounding him. He was so small and fragile, already on the verge of tears. This was how he was gonna die, trapped in a concrete box, surrounded by dictators, alone and afraid. 

Techno reared forward, punching him before pulling his bow again. Tubbo whimpered. 

“Tubbo… Tubbo, I’m sorry, I’ll make it as painless and as colorful as possible.” Techno sighed, aiming the bow.

“What the hell?!” Tubbo shook, looking over at Tommy again. 

Suddenly, there was a small hissing sound. An explosion rang through the air, and there was silence. Nobody moved. Then suddenly, it was chaos. The sounds of explosions drew nearer, the crowd started scattering, running all different ways. Tubbo pressed on the concrete walls, put his entire weight into it, but they didn’t budge.

L’Manberg was being destroyed from the inside out and he was trapped. 

“What the hell is going on, what’s happening?” Schlatt exclaimed, looking around frantically. Another hiss of tnt being lit. It was close this time, in the crowd. Debris shot everywhere as clumps of people ran away. 

The sizzle of fire sounds, and Tubbo ducked down, expecting another explosion. But soon a loud popping noise explodes through the sky. A firework, bright and beautiful, throwing colorful lights through the air. For a moment, Tubbo, Techno, Schlatt, and Quackity stood still, staring up at the colors. Blue and red stars, casting their light onto a terror-stricken boy trapped in a concrete room.

Suddenly, a cry came from the right side of the stage. 

“Schlatt! You bastard, how could you?!”

It was Tommy. 

Tubbo scrambled onto his knees, legs shaking too much to fully stand up. He lay his head on the fencepost holding him inside the walls, his arm handing out limply. Tommy was running towards him, sword in hand. He looked utterly terrifying, pure rage in his eyes. He was coming to the rescue.

Quackity grabbed Schlatt’s arm and they both started to run to the other side of the stage. Away from the explosions or Tommy, Tubbo was unsure, but with them away Tommy would be able to save him right?

Tubbo burrowed himself back into the corner, hearing another explosion.

Tommy was coming, right? 

After another explosion came and went with no Tommy, Tubbo peeked his head out again. All he saw was Tommy’s sword, lying alone on the ground. His eyes followed the curve of the hill to see Tommy face-up at the bottom. His eyes were closed, and he almost looked peaceful. Tubbo screamed, tears spilling down his face. 

He couldn’t lose Tommy like this, not after everything they have gone through- not after Tommy was supposed to save him. Tubbo screamed again, voice going hoarse. He sobbed loudly, covering his mouth and trying to get out of the box as another explosion sounded, growing closer, louder. Tubbo put his head in between his knees, covering his ears. He told himself it was just the fireworks, the red light wasn’t fire, only exploding stars. 

The stage shook with the reverb of another explosion. He was about to go down. 

A movement in front of his face. Was Tommy there after all? 

Tubbo looked up to be met with the sharp point of an arrow pointing into his forehead. Technoblade, standing above him, crossbow pointed at him.

“Please, Techno,” Tubbo sobbed, seeing the guilt already present in his eyes, “Please, you don’t have to do this.”

“It will be as painless as possible. Tubbo, you don’t want to burn to death do you?” Techno muttered, reaching down to pull the string of the crossbow back. He looked away, not able to look Tubbo in the eyes. He was about to put his bow down when a chain of explosions went off, down the center of the path leading to the audience. It was quick, quicker than the others. 

“Please Techno, please-” Tubbo was cut off by the sound of an arrow releasing. He was knocked back into the seat of the throne, hitting his head into the wall behind him. Everything went fuzzy for a long moment before he looked down and saw an arrow through his chest. Blood fell through his fingers, staining the new white shirt under his suit. The red blood spurted out with every shortening breath. Tubbo looked up to see Techno running away, and he heard Schlatt cheering. 

There was so much blood. It pooled into Tubbo’s hands, spilling over the sides of his cupped hands to fall into the floor drip by drip. Too much blood, he was going to die. 

A firework went off. Tubbo used his weak hands to pull himself farther, the pain of the arrow through him making it almost unbearable. A trail of blood led from the throne, now staining the concrete. He leaned against one of the walls, wheezing furiously. The blood ran down his clothes now, a long slash down his front. Thick drops of tears fell from his eyes, falling next to the stains of blood. 

Tubbo looked out among his friends. Tommy lay at the base of the hill, Wilbur was nowhere in sight. Fundy lay facedown in the pile of debris that used to be the seating area. Some where running, some where dead. 

Tubbo’s vision was becoming spotty, black and white against the night sky. Propping himself up against the wall, Tubbo felt blood start to fall from his mouth onto the collar of his shirt. Another firework exploded. It was utterly beautiful, a colorful death. Just as Techno had promised. 

-

The shaking ground beneath Wilbur’s feet was calming. He laughed as he put the match out. This was it, he made his decision. The explosions were faint at first, but he knew it was only a matter of seconds before they would reach the stage. Tubbo should be safe with Technoblade now, the group running back to Pogtopia.

Wilbur took this opportunity to have a moment to himself before he returned to L’Manberg and take his place as President again. Moving away from the tnt room, he found himself running up and down hills, away from where the destruction would be. After a few minutes the shaking of the ground stopped and everything went quiet. 

Wilbur let himself smile. He had completed his mission, and to his knowledge everything went according to plan. He stopped with a jolt, falling against the soft grass on the hill. 

“My L’Manberg,” Wilbur breathed out, adjusting to how the words felt in his mouth. L’Manberg. His L’Manberg. He remembered the song they created during the war. This is what they have been fighting for for years, nobody could take this away from them. Not Dream, not Schlatt. It belonged to them, and they successfully took it back. 

The sun was rising above him. It was a new dawn, a new day in the great country of L’Manberg. The sun would rise on them once again.

That’s what Wilbur thought.

-

The final explosion exploded the stage. There was wood and fire everywhere. Schlatt and Quackity lay on the grass next to the stage, only barely caught by the fire, so close to escaping. The concrete tomb built around Tubbo had granted him safety from parts of the blast, parts of his skin being burnt. Yet he still looked peaceful, faced out towards the sky.

That’s how Techno found him. The rotten smell of burnt hair and skin filling his nose. The wood on the fence had burnt down to a small, smoky stub. It was easy to push out of the way. Techno dropped to his knees, looking at the debris around him. Splinters of wood dug into his knees and his legs, but he didn’t care. 

In front of him lay Tubbo. His face was burnt, though the tear streaks were still visible. His eyes were slightly open, looking down at the arrow through his chest. Techno’s arrow. Guilt flooded him, and he covered his mouth so as to not let the feelings escape him. Techno had to keep himself composed. He had to keep himself composed because he doesn’t know if he would be able to put himself back together if he let go. 

He took a deep breath in before patting the fire around him out and sliding his hands under Tubbo’s knees and against his shoulders. He stood up, cradling the boy. The arrow stood proudly towards the sky like a trophy. Technoblade bit the inside of his cheek and started to make his way towards Tommy. They needed to find Wilbur and get back to Pogtopia. 

Techno made his way towards Tommy, mind numb. How was he supposed to explain to Tommy that he killed his best friend? 

He lay Tubbo’s body down, turning to try and wake Tommy. Techno shook the boy’s shoulders.

“Tommy, Tommy, wake up please, we have to get home. We have to get away from here,” Techno shook him. 

Tommy shifted under his hands but didn’t wake. This was going to be difficult. 

“Tommy, please. Just wake up, we need to find Wilbur.”

After a few minutes with little response, Techno moved to adjust Tommy onto his back with Tubbo in his arms. 

He staggered down the streets of L’Manberg, around the debris and the bodies. Someone stood at the end of the street. 

It was Niki. She had run off after hearing the first explosion. Niki saw Techno standing there, Tommy on his back, Tubbo in his arms. 

She ran to them. 

“Oh no. No, no, no, not Tubbo- please,” Tears started to fall as she brushed the boys hair from his burnt forehead. “Anyone but Tubbo, no.” 

“Come with us, you’re not safe here.” Techno whispered, offering the girl comfort as best as he could. 

The group made their way down into the tunnels of Pogtopia, Tubbo in Technoblade’s arms, Nikki dragging Tommy on her back. Nobody spoke, the only sound was Niki’s soft cries. The ravine had never felt more like a tomb, the melancholy of a graveyard in the air. 

Eventually they found their way to a room with two beds in it. It was barren, only beds pushed into a corner of a cave. They separated the two beds, lying Tommy down onto one and Tubbo on the other. Niki made Techno remove the arrow, too afraid of hurting the boy, even though he was dead. 

After fixing both boys up, they pulled the blankets up to their chins. The blankets covered the wound, and if not for the burns on his face, one might think that it was just two boys sleeping peacefully. 

-

Wilbur stood up as the sun rose, deciding it was time to go back. He knew his friends would be waiting for him back in Pogtopia, but he wanted to see what the destruction he caused was like. He made his way over the hills, back past the tnt room, over to climb the building he and Tommy were just standing on. Or rather, what was left of it. The country was in shambles. There was not a single complete building; most had fallen completely or been partly destroyed. 

Leading up to the stage was the worst of it. There were bodies, bodies of his friends and the people he once worked so closely with. There was a feeling of guilt that filled his gut, but at the realization that Tubbo, Techno, and Tommy were all missing, the feeling left.

‘If they aren’t here, they’re safe in Pogtopia, right?’ Wilbur asked himself silently. He laughed, it was loud and wrang out through the buildings, echoing and bouncing of all the buildings. 

“This is my kingdom. I made this. Schlatt’s gone, he’s gone!” Wilbur laughed again, pure joy over the chaos he caused. As long as he thought his friends were safe, nothing else mattered. 

He made his way back to Pogtopia. 

-

Wilbur waltzed into Pogtopia, the cockiness of the success of what he did getting to his head. He whistled the simple celebratory tune of the war, memories of his days fighting alongside Tommy and Tubbo entering his mind. 

“We did it, boys!” He whooped, entering the main ravine area. “Manberg is no more!” 

Wilbur stopped dead in his tracks. In front of him stood Technoblade and Niki. Tommy and Tubbo were nowhere in sight. Techno looked furious and Niki was wiping away tears. She looked like she had been crying for hours. 

“What happened?” The hurt in Wilbur’s voice was evident, and the question hung heavily in the air. “What happened?” He repeated. 

Niki and Technoblade glanced at each other. Niki leaves to sit in the room with Tommy and Tubbo. 

“Wilbur,” Techno spat, anger dripping from his tongue. “Wilbur, you fucked up. Do you have any idea what you did?”

“I saved this great country, that’s what I did.” Wilbur tried to push past him and follow Niki, but Techno held him by his arm. 

“You killed Tubbo.” 

Once again, Wilbur froze. His face stripped of color, and he breathed out a shaky breath. 

“You fucking killed Tubbo. You blew the place up knowing he was in Schlatt’s trap and you did it anyway-“ Techno gripped Wilbur’s arm tighter. 

“Trap, what trap?!” Wilbur interrupted. 

“Yeah, Wilbur, act like you don’t know. You know what you did and you did it anyway. I couldn’t have let Tubbo burn to death, I couldn’t give you what you wanted. How do you think Tommy will feel?” He pushed Wilbur backwards. Even though Techno was shorter than him, Wilbur was properly terrified. 

“Give me what I wanted? That makes it seem like you killed Tubbo,” Wilbur was trying to take the subject off himself for a second so he had a moment to collect himself and plot his plan of action, but the pause in Technoblade’s movements told him he was onto something. “You killed Tubbo, didn’t you, Technoblade.”

“I had to-“

“You killed Tubbo, just like Schlatt told you to,” Wilbur said, disgusted with the actions of his friend. “And you’re calling me a bad person? At least I’m not a fucking traitor.”

Techno reared forward and threw a punch at Wilbur. It threw his head back, and Wilbur stumbled backwards into the wall. He bounced back, throwing himself at Technoblade. Techno used his shoulder to knock Wilbur to the ground, pulling out his crossbow and aiming it at Wilbur. Just as he had at Tubbo. He hoped Wilbur didn’t try to fight back, because Techno didn’t know if he could fire a shot at one of his friends again. Guilt from Tubbo’s death was already enveloping him, dragging him into a black hole of sorrow. He didn’t know if he could do that again. 

“I made it as painless as possible, you would have watched the poor boy burn to death,” Techno yelled, losing his temper momentarily before once again composing himself. “We are leaving. You’re not coming with us, go on and rule your country like you’ve wanted to. I hope killing everyone to get back in power made you feel like a good leader. Nobody here wants to live in a world where you are the ruler, Wilbur.”

-

Tommy awoke to the sound of yelling, his head pounding. It took his eyes a few moments to adjust to the dark room, but eventually he realized he was back in Pogtopia. That’s not where he remembered being. 

It took another minute for him to sit up, stabbing pains travelling through his head when he tried to. He heard someone outside, a girl it sounded like.

“Niki?” Tommy tried to whisper, but his voice was hoarse. His throat was coated in the ash and dust from the explosion. Niki didn’t respond, but Tommy didn’t want to hurt his voice again. He gazed across the room, trying to squint against the light of the torches. His vision was spotty, and Tommy couldn’t tell if someone was in the other bed or if it was just his mind playing tricks on him. 

Tommy balanced himself with one hand on the cold stone wall next to him, and shuffled over to the neighboring bed. He peeked over the covers to see who was occupying the bed.

It was Tubbo.

Tommy breathed a sigh of relief. He was alright, Tubbo was fine. He got out of the box. He was safe. 

“Hey, big man.” Tommy whispered, chuckling to himself.

Suddenly nausea overtook him, and Tommy reared back before falling forward. He used his arm to catch himself, his palm sinking into the soft mattress. Tubbo’s arm brushed against Tommy’s, and it was cold. It was so cold. 

Taken aback, Tommy fell to his knees in front of the bed, confused. His hands clawed at the blankets, quilts that Niki had sown for the boys during the war. They were much too tattered to be used for any real warmth, but both boys slept with them anyway. 

Tommy noticed something on the quilt, a stain in the middle of the soft fabric.

A blood stain.

With shaking hands Tommy held up the quilt, fingers tracing the red pool. He dropped it, hands moving to cover his mouth. Hot tears already pricked the edges of his eyes, threatening to spill. 

It was when he saw Tubbo’s body that he screamed. 

There was his best friend, his partner in crime, his Tubbo, skin grey and a hole in his chest. His eyes had fallen slightly open again, but only the whites of them. Tommy scrambled back on his hands, smacking his head once again on the wall. He curled in on himself, sobbing loudly. 

The minutes went by in a blur. Niki entered the room, followed closely by Wilbur and Technoblade. Tommy felt no sense of security seeing these people here, he just wanted Tubbo back. Wilbur tried to pull Tommy up and away from the body, but Tommy fought and kicked and screamed with all of his might. 

He escaped Wilbur’s grip, fighting past Niki and Techno to Tubbo. Tommy fell to his knees, hands cupping Tubbo’s cold face. 

“Tubbo, please wake up, please-”

His pleads were cut off by hands wrapping around him, once again dragging him away. Voices sounded fuzzy in his ear, all he could focus on was waking up Tubbo. He was just asleep, Tommy needed to be there when he woke up. He had to wake up.

He screamed again, fighting back against the people carrying him away. He kicked and punched, but to no avail. Three adults against a sixteen year old wasn’t much of a fight. Tommy’s feet slid against the ground, heels eventually coming to a still as they dragged his limp and sobbing body away. 

Tommy collapsed into Wilbur, sobbing into his shirt.

“How could you… how could you… you killed him. You killed Tubbo,” He sobbed, weakly punching his chest. He wasn’t really trying to fight him, Tommy was too weak and concussed to be able to land any real punches, but the shaky blows to Wilbur’s chest were enough. 

Wilbur wrapped his arms around Tommy, but not in a comforting way. He dragged the boy into a random tunnel before he let him go. Tommy sank down, back against the wall. He sobbed loudly into his hands, face in between his knees. His head pounded and the crying didn’t help.

“You fucking killed him, Wilbur,” Tommy cried weakly, voice muffled by his hands. There was nothing he wanted more than to curl up and sleep, but everytime he closed his eyes he saw his best friend’s cold hands reaching out for him. “You and your stupid fucking plan killed him.”

Wilbur sat silently, the guilt of what he had done settling into him. He felt numb to it all. Like nothing bothered him anymore. He got what he wanted; L’Manberg was his. Tubbo’s death left a mark on his conscience, but not enough that he was going to step down from taking his place as President again. Techno’s harsh words played in his head once again.

Wilbur looked over at the sobbing boy before walking down the hallway and away from Pogtopia. Tommy watched him go, telling himself there was no reason to try and fight him or make him feel bad for what he had done. Wilbur had completely lost himself in his own mind. It wasn’t the Wilbur he knew anymore, Tommy was sure of it. The Wilbur he knew wouldn’t have done this.

Tubbo died in a box. There was nothing Tommy could do.

-

Tubbo’s funeral happened the next night. It was silent and eerie in the meadow, all the melancholy of unfinished conversations and empty promises hung heavy in the air. 

Tommy, Technoblade, and Niki stood shoulder to shoulder in front of Tubbo’s makeshift grave. The headstone was nothing but a gravestone-shaped rock found in the remains of L’Manberg, with Tubbo’s name lightly scratched into it.

Nobody had done anything for the remainder of the previous day. Tommy sat in the tunnel and cried, Niki eventually giving up trying to coax him out and opting to sit beside him quietly. Techno had left in the middle of the night, kept awake by the trauma of the festival. Tubbo’s pleading face before Techno let the arrow loose flashed in his mind as he dug Tubbo’s grave in the pitch black of night. Eventually he sank to his knees and cried, unable to control the guilt. 

They were angry tears, pouring down his face. He had punched the ground, sobbed into the grass. Nothing got rid of the weight in his chest, though. The weight that pulled him down, down into an abyss of sorrow.

But they all stood there now, as composed as possible. Tommy and Niki were in their uniforms, the only other clothes they had not destroyed by the explosions and the fire. Technoblade wore his usual cloak, even though it was badly burnt and tearing in some places. It was all they had. 

They didn’t trust themselves enough to give proper eulogies, so each person brought something to leave for Tubbo. 

Niki brought a bouquet of purple flowers, Tubbo’s favorite. They were wrapped in a bow, and laid next to the grave. She hoped that if they ever returned, a field of them would be in bloom. It’s what Tubbo would have wanted. 

Tommy brought the disks. If they were leaving L’Manberg, he had no use for them anymore. He set them next to the flowers.

“Here you go, Tubbo,” Tommy wiped tears away, “I won’t be here to watch the sunset with you, so I’m leaving you these so you have something to listen to.”

Niki gripped Tommy’s hand, letting the boy cry into her shoulder. 

Lastly, Technoblade left his crown. The gold glittered in the setting sun, casting fragments of light into the grass.

A bee buzzed down from the tree that Tubbo’s grave lay under, landing first on the purple flowers, then moving to the disks, before fluttering onto the crown. 

Tommy pulled his face out of the crook of Niki’s neck, and the three watched as the bee flew from item to item before returning back into the thick trees. It wasn’t a lot, but it was a small form of closure. 

The sun was completely set now, and Techno lit off a final firework to make Tubbo’s funeral as colorful as his death had been. 

-

Wilbur watched the firework go off, following it until he found Tubbo’s grave. He knew he couldn’t show his face at the memorial, but still wanted to say one final goodbye. It was late, and the moon was high in the sky. 

He walked across the hills and into the meadow, the grass brushing at his ankles. All was silent, the whispers of the wind talking into Wilbur’s ears. He sat quietly next to the grave, careful not to upset it in any way. With his knees pulled to his chest and one hand on the headstone, Wilbur sat there and watched the stars with Tubbo. 

He felt peaceful. For one moment, it didn’t matter that Wilbur had blown up his country, it didn’t matter that he was responsible for Tubbo’s death or that he drove his last living friends out of their homeland. It was just him and Tubbo, watching the moon and the stars. 

Wilbur walked back in the soft mist of the early morn, and took his place on the remains of his throne. It was his country once again.

-

No one ever returned to L’Manberg.


End file.
